The Hemofarm Foundation organized the first mentoring lectures for the scholarship holders of the generation 2025/26 as part of the Mentoring Program, which has been systematically supporting young people in the development of knowledge, skills and professional identity for more than three decades.

During the day-long program, the focus was not only on developing the skills needed to enter the labor market, but also on strengthening self-confidence, taking responsibility and understanding one's own role in the professional environment.

‘What this program brings is an awareness of how important everyone is to the community. It teaches us to take initiative and responsibility, but also to believe in our own potential’, concluded Teodora Marki, a scholarship holder of the Hemofarm Foundation.



Through a combination of lectures and interactive workshops, the scholarships holders dealt with topics that often are not covered by formal education, from building a professional identity and preparing for the first job interview, to assertive communication and public speaking. A special emphasis was placed on practical work and the active participation of all those present.

The workshop ‘Grow Your Professional Identity: From Graduating from College to the First Job Interview’, led by Aleksandra Savić and Milica Muždeka (C&P Hemofarm), opened up specific questions of scholarship holders, from how to create a striking CV and position yourself on LinkedIn, to realistic expectations regarding the first salary and entry into the labor market.



An important topic at the beginning of a career is certainly the way we communicate and seek feedback in the business environment. Through the workshop ‘Speak up & Grow – Feedback and Assertive Communication at the Beginning of a Career’, led by Jovana Živković (C&P Hemofarm), the scholarship holders had the opportunity to practice communication styles and understand the importance of an open, ‘speak up’ culture through real situations.



A particularly inspiring and intense part of the program was the three-hour workshop ’Stage Fright as an Ally: Confident Public Speaking Skills’, led by drama pedagogue Miloš Lučić from Drama Studio. Through practical exercises, work with the body and voice, as well as simulations of public speaking, the scholarship holders learned how to understand and overcome stage fright. The workshop was dynamic and interactive, and through the process of thought-emotion-body-behavior, the participants gained concrete tools for a more confident performance in real situations.



That the program has an immediate effect is also confirmed by the scholarship holders. Mina Panić, a scholarship holder of the Hemofarm Foundation, pointed out that the lectures were ‘extremely useful, but equally important, very interesting’, while the scholarship holder Uroš Markovic singled out the public speaking workshop as his favorite part of the program: ‘The exercises completely led to breaking the stage fright and I think we all wanted them to last as long as possible.’



Ivana Minović, coordinator of the Education Program of the Hemofarm Foundation, emphasized the importance of this approach to working with young people: ‘Our goal is to provide scholarship holders with a space to actively learn, ask questions and develop skills that they will really need at the beginning of their careers. It is precisely in this area where formal education has limitations, that we aim to be their additional support.’



The program was completed with an evening visit to the monodrama ‘Tell us Something About Yourself’, performed by Nikola Rakočević, which was a symbolic closure of the central theme of the day: the issue of personal and professional identity.



This monodrama does not deal only with job interviews, but also with broader issues of identity, self-confidence, and the need to be accepted, which is why it resonates particularly strongly with young people at the beginning of their careers.

After the performance, the scholarship holders had the opportunity to speak with the actor Nikola Rakočević, as well as with screenwriter Milan Mrđa, which further enriched their experience and enabled them to connect the topics from the play with their own dilemmas and challenges.



The mentoring lectures were carried out with the support of the American Resource Center.

The active participation and openness of the scholarship holders have once again shown how important it is to create a space in which young people can develop not only knowledge, but also security, initiative and awareness of their own potential.